Mordialloc Ducks off to a flyer
By Ben Triandafillou
THE Mordialloc Ducks have begun to
write the record books with a flying
start to their opening season on Saturday 14 April.
Under club president Ben Newton,
the Ducks have claimed two victories
from their first two games in division
EL of the Melbourne Winter Baseball
League and don’t look to be taking a
backwards step.
The club has just the one Senior
Men’s side which was accepted into
the league just over a month ago,
and although inexperienced, the side
has been able to put back-to-back
victories on the board in front of
their home crowd at the Cheltenham
Baseball Club.
Following their two-run win over
Forest Hill on Saturday 21 April,

club president Ben Newton said that
he didn’t know how the side would
perform this season but is glad to see
them start off in a winning way.
“We entered the season with not
much expectation as we didn’t know
what the other teams were like and we
weren’t really sure of how we would
go ourselves,” he said.
“We had just the two training sessions beforehand and many of the
guys are still getting used to the game
– it’s been a real learning curve.”
The past couple of weeks have been
filled with “firsts” for the club, with
the first hit being struck by Ben Newton and the first pitch being thrown by
Scott Rodda, but it was in their second
week when Ben Davenport whacked
home their first home-run that topped
it all off.
“[It was] amazing,” Newton said. “It

was in a tight spot in the game and he
got every bit of it. Seeing all the guys
come out and congratulate him was
really special.”
The Ducks are more of a “social
club” for those who are restricted by
work and other time restricting factors, and therefore don’t do mid-week
training but Newton said they still go
out on the field and give it their all.
“The focus for our club is definitely
the social side of the sport but we are
still quite competitive on the field,” he
said. “We would love to put together
a Women’s side and another Men’s
team next season and eventually look
at a T-ball or juniors program.”
While the season has started the
fixture for the league hasn’t been published as of yet so the Ducks will take
every game on a week-by-week basis.

Mighty Ducks: The Mordialloc Ducks celebrate first victory as a club. Picture: Supplied

Kaoullas faces familiar opponent
MORNINGTON Peninsula boxer Adam
Kaoullas is lining up for the Victorian
State Welterweight Title on Saturday 19
May against a familiar boxer in Dillon
Bargero at the Malvern Town Hall.
The professional welterweight boxer
faced Bargero in November last year
where he almost had the fight won in
the opening round until Bargero picked
himself up off the canvas to fight it out
until the end.
Kaoullas took out the fight by unanimous decision after the fourth round but
he is confident that he can claim the victory a lot earlier in this match-up.

“He made it interesting that night but
I feel like I’ve improved out of sight so
hopefully I can show it when we face
each other again,” he said.
“My mindset has changed massively.
I’m more relaxed and enjoying it a lot
more as I used to put too much pressure
on myself. The more bouts and more experience I get, I have less stress and feel
a lot more confident heading into my
fights.”
Kaoullas has faced one more opponent since Bargero and defeated him by
a unanimous points decision on Sunday
25 February. While Bargero has had four

fights since their match-up, winning
one by knock-out as well as defeating
the New South Wales champion Eddie
Dos Santos by unanimous decision last
month.
The match-up is set for eight rounds
instead of the four rounds which they
fought last time but Kaoullas doesn’t see
it going that long.
“It’ll be a good a stepping stone for the
rest of my year,” he said. “He’s killing it
at the moment so he’s definitely a worthy
opponent but I’m excited to get in there
and show everyone what I’ve got.”
Ben Triandafillou

Title tilt: Adam Kaoullas prepares for his state title match-up with coach Sam “King”
Soliman. Picture: Supplied

Eaton strikes metro fame
By Ben Triandafillou
APPRENTICE jockey Jessica Eaton officially
transferred to Mornington-based trainer Chris
Meagher two weeks ago and has quickly claimed
her first Melbourne city winner.
Eaton, who has been on loan to Meagher for the
past six months, continued her winning relationship with the in-form mare Famelist, for Mornington trainer Gary Carson, when saluting at Sandown
on Wednesday 18 April.
Eaton has been aboard the seven-year-old mare
at all four of her starts this preparation and has
racked up three victories since storming home
first-up in a benchmark 64 at Sale at $51 to win on
Tuesday 27 February.
Eaton was full of praise for the mare and said she
was even happier to get the win for the Mornington-based Caron’s stable.
“It’s a pretty special horse and she has been in
really great form recently,” Eaton said. “He (Gary
Carson) has a small team at Mornington so it was
great to get my first Melbourne city winner for
them, and to be a part of the ride has been amazing.”
It’s been a successful couple of weeks for the
24-year-old hoop who also claimed the National
Apprentice Jockey Series for Victoria on the
Wednesday prior to her win aboard Famelist.
While Eaton concluded the series in Perth with a
short-neck second aboard Scoreline, she had done

enough to clinch the title and topped it off with her
maiden city win aboard the Stephen Rowe-trained
Classi Survivor ($17) in the final race of the day.
“Being able to go to another state and compete
against other jockeys is an incredible experience,”
she said.
“Meeting new people and seeing different
jockeys, you can learn a lot. There were apprentice
coaches from every state there and I can’t thank
Matt Pumpa (Racing Victoria Apprentices’ coach)
enough for his support.”
Eaton is hoping to keep her hot run going and
said that it’s great to be back in a busy environment
like Mornington.
“There is probably about three to four trainers at
Stawell and before that, I used to ride at Caulfield
so it’s great to be back in this type of environment,” she said.
“I’m getting a lot of support from local trainers and they are all going at a good strike rate at
the moment, so it helps to get good rides for good
trainers.
“He’s (Chris Meagher) been really good to me
and lets me try and get rides for a lot of other
trainers and having that support from a trainer who
supports you and lets you take up those opportunities is brilliant.”
Eaton currently sits at sixth on the Victorian Apprentice Jockey Premiership with 34 winners for
the season.